The Wedding Tryst
by counterfeitmoon
Summary: Lily hasn't seen or spoken to Severus Snape in years. On the weekend of her wedding, he comes back into her life capsizing her world and engulfing it in shades of gray. As feelings resurface that she once thought had been buried forever, Lily agrees to a tryst with Snape that changes everything.
1. Small Oceans

**1– Small Oceans**

"Small oceans still get big waves, my dear."

Those words shouldn't have sounded ominous, yet they hung in the air and stung Lily like a cold, winter wind. She stood in front of a full-length mirror. Its reflection showed her in an hour-glass wedding dress, taffeta silk flowing to the ground collecting like a pool of silvery snow. The dress was sleeveless and formed a subtle V at her neckline showing just enough bare skin to tempt the eye to trail down to her full, round breasts.

"Cokeworth doesn't have an ocean, _my dear. _So there won't be any waves._" _Lily turned to see her side profile, pulling her red hair into a messy bun. "Do you think I should wear it up or down?"

Dumbledore chuckled. It hadn't been so long ago that Lily Evans was skipping through the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. Was it possible that she would really be Lily _Potter_ after tomorrow? "I think how you wear your hair is a better question for James. Cokeworth might not have an ocean, but small affairs can become quite volatile, like a stormy sea—"

"My wedding is _not_ going to be a stormy sea," insisted Lily. "What's with all of the water analogies? You wishing you were a pirate instead of a wizard?"

"No, I—"

Lily turned from the mirror and let her hair fall. "Dumbledore, it's going to be okay. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, he's not going to be there tomorrow. He wouldn't do that."

"How can you be sure? If I were to guess if there's anywhere in the world he would be, it's here. Tomorrow."

"Not possible. The wedding is small. We'll know right away."

Dumbledore seemed to weigh her words carefully, not showing any tell if he believed them or not. "I suppose if you're certain, then I should be too."

Lily gave the headmaster a hug. "Thank you. And thank you for doing the wedding tomorrow. It means so much to us."

"I best be letting you go." At the door, Dumbledore turned. "You should wear it down. No one has red hair quite like yours."

Lily blushed a little, and tried not to beam. "Thank you."

After Dumbledore had left, Lily closed the door to the room and locked it. She made her way to the full-length mirror and flipped it to the other side, placing her hand over a photograph, obscuring who or what was in it.

"Not tomorrow," she said. "No small oceans."

Lily took her hand from the photograph. A black-and-white portrait of Severus Snape stared back at her.


	2. A River in Winter

**2– A River in Winter**

On the day before the happiest day of her life, Lily suddenly felt sick to her stomach. The feeling wasn't entirely foreign, but it was something she hadn't felt in so long that she needed to rush to the rocking chair by the bay window and collapse in it. The sudden movement kicked up her wedding dress—a whoosh noise sounded through the room—and the dress wrapped itself around her like a warm blanket. "What in Merlin's beard…?" she exclaimed.

She hadn't felt this way since the day she left Snape. Across the room, the black-and-white photograph stared at her; his eyes, always so dark, seemed to tunnel into her soul with ease. "Stop it!" she told the photograph.

The picture had been taken at Hogwarts in his Slytherin room. Snape had taken a Muggle camera from his father and was practicing flying it for use at the Quidditch stadium. "I'm interested in, er, journalism," he explained to her.

"Whatever," she said. "I know you want to use the flash to blind James and Sirius while they play."

He feigned disbelief. "I would never!"

"Stop lying and strike a pose. Pout those lips, Sev." His thin smile formed, and she snapped the photo, right before he rolled his eyes.

By that time, they'd been friends for a year and were beginning to form an understanding, or connection, or _something _she couldn't quite explain—something she'd never had with anyone. "Have you ever seen a river frozen over in the winter?" he asked her that day. "It might not show much on the surface, but underneath…"

"There's a lot happening," she'd answered, and lightly touched his hand.

When she left him years later, she'd ridded herself of all reminders of what they'd shared—she simply had to. Every time she saw something of his, a sickening feeling of loss set in that was unbearable. It was the only way she knew how to move on, and yet she couldn't rid herself of this photograph, and frankly a few other things tucked into a box beneath her bed, but the picture was the one item she'd allowed herself to keep out in the open.

"Why today, Sev? Why this weekend?" Lily asked the room.

But really, she already knew the answer. She hadn't really left Severus Snape. He'd chosen a path over her. She was the one who had been dumped, and tucked deep into her subconscious, the feeling of loss stemmed from just that—her very best friend in the world had left her, and she still missed him.

Deep down, there was another lie she'd been telling herself. She tried to believe that Snape wouldn't come to the wedding, but he would be there, just as Dumbledore said he would. At some point this weekend, she would have to face her old love.


	3. Froggy and Boulder

**3 – Froggy and Boulder**

The knock on the door snapped Lily back to reality. "Hey, Froggy. You about ready?"

Froggy was what James sometimes called her. After going on a double-date with a couple that called themselves Boo and Schmoopie, they agreed to never, ever have nicknames, and yet an hour later, they were ferociously brainstorming pet names, agreeing to make them as ridiculous as possible. Lily-pad was going to be hers, except that was too obvious. "It has to be something that doesn't make logical sense," said James. "What about Frog because, you know, they jump on—?"

"Yes, I know they jump on lily pads. But Froggy is so—"

"Froggy! Yes! That's perfect. And when someone asks us how that came to be, we'll look at each and laugh really hard and say it takes too long to explain. Then we'll wink at each other and say it's private."

Lily wasn't a fan, but she went along anyway. "Whatever makes you happy, Boulder."

James paused. "Boulder…. Like a huge rock. A symbol of strength."

"Yes, a boulder is a huge, he-yooge _rock,_ Captain Obvious."

"Boulder it is. I love it!"

Lily never called James _Boulder_ again, but Froggy had endured despite its mild annoyance.

"Come on, Froggy, you about ready? Everyone's starting to arrive at the church."

Lily wasn't at all ready to start the wedding rehearsal. She had become quite comfortable wrapped in her wedding dress in the rocking chair staring at a picture of Snape.

The door knob started to turn. "James, no!"

"Why's it locked?" he asked.

"Because I'm in my wedding dress," she partially lied, wishing she hadn't left the picture of Snape out in the open.

"Oh… I was picturing you in less."

"Stop. I'll be there in a minute, okay?"

"Please hurry, Froggy. I think your mother is going to have a meltdown. She overheard the caterer telling someone this is his first real job."

Lily walked to the mirror and flipped it back to the other side. "Really? Chef Leroy comes highly recommended."

"Oh yeah, they had to replace Leroy with some other guy. Get this. His name is Boyardini. Kind of like Chef Boyardee."

Lily thought that was a little strange. The catering company hadn't mentioned anything to her.

"One more thing," said James. "Petunia still wants my body. She's trying to stop the wedding."

Lily tried not to laugh and ended up snorting. Her sister had never been a fan of anyone or anything associated with Hogwarts. The thought of Petunia marrying someone like James was as improbable as her desiring a man like Vernon Dursley. The thought of kissing that man was somewhere between awful and horrifying. James had once asked her, "If it's only you and Vernon left on the planet, and it was up to you to save the entire human race, could you… you know?" Lily quickly changed the topic.

"I thought that would make you smile," said James. "I'll see you in a few minutes downstairs."

Lily could hear his footsteps trail down the hotel hall, and her nerves calmed. James had a way of doing that to her—making her troubles melt away when things were confusing.

She quickly got of her wedding dress and slipped into a little, black dress with one shoulder covered in glittering rhinestones. She'd picked it out months ago in a Muggle boutique in London near Trafalgar Square. Back in front of the mirror, she applied mascara and was getting ready to put on red, cherry lip gloss when there was another knock on the door.

"Yes, James?"

"Pardon me, Miss Evans, it's not James. It's Chef Boyardini. We have a serious problem with the food for tonight."

Lily didn't hesitate and opened the door.

Severus Snape stood in front of her.


End file.
